Honenu reports that on Thursday, 26 Tammuz, the Petah Tikva Magistrate Court ordered the release of three young men, all of them residents of Yitzhar, who were detained the previous evening in Yitzhar following a clash with which they were not involved. Arabs approached Yitzhar, endangering youths at the nearby spring, and a clash ensued. The detainees arrived at the scene after the clash had started and were not involved with it. They were taken to the Ariel Police Station for interrogation.

After the interrogation, the police demanded that they sign on a conditional release which included distancing them from Yitzhar for 15 days. All three refused to sign and were held in remand overnight. The following day during a deliberation on the case the Petah Tikva Magistrate Court rejected the police demand to distance the detainees and ordered their release under other conditions.

Honenu Attorney Adi Kedar, who represented the youths: “It is sad to see that the police were quick to detain individuals who were not connected to the incident, and did not deal with the serious security threat posed by the Arabs. Instead of the police and the army handling with the Arabs with a firm hand, they detained three young men, some of whom have families, who came to the site only after the clash broke out and were not involved with the incident. I am pleased that the court rejected the police demand to distance them from their place of residence and their families, and ordered their release under lenient conditions.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)